Hi everyone,

I'm finishing up a couple of applications today and I noticed that one application gives me an option to list the other law schools I am applying to.

I'm not sure if I should fill this out or not - is there an advantage/disadvantage to doing so?

Cornell law's app says to include a resume that lists: "Work experience, including full-time, part-time, summer."

So this means I should have a longer resume for Cornell that includes pretty much every job I've had right? Sure, I won't include random jobs during high school, but can I go ahead and include the random summer job during college, and some other part-time jobs I've had? I hadn't included these initially due to getting my resume down to one page, but if Cornell wants it all, I'm happy to oblige.

So I heard the rumor that applications are divided into batches submitted before thanksgiving and after.

Is it true?

I got my October score and was wondering if I should speed up the entire process to enhance my chances or wait a little more...

I read somewhere (TLS I think) that it was suggested to put your LSAC# on your resume for applications - is this a good idea? Would I just include it in my header? I could just delete my phone number and include my LSAC # instead.

I know I need a header with name, LSAC#, and title of essay for all the application essays, but I hadn't even thought of putting it on my resume. I hope it's not too big of a deal considering I have already submitted quite a few.

Any ideas either way?

Hello!

For almost every summer, I have worked as an instructor at private education organization in my country, teaching SAT, essay writing in English, AP courses, etc.

The primary reason was to earn some part of my tuition and living expenses, though I genuinely enjoyed teaching students.

Should I put this work experience on my resume?

I am not sure how law school sees such "private" tutoring.

Hey Everyone,

So I exceeded my target score on the LSAT, have a rough but decent GPA and know I need a good personal statement to really round out my application package. I was wondering if anyone would like to swap Personal Statements or my Diversity Statement when I finish my current edit today. I'm more than willing to read/edit/brainstorm anything you have in exchange. Please let me know.

Thanks and keep working hard everyone.

Hi All,

Here is my entire background in 1 sentence: failed out of high school, then went into Pasadena City College with a 3.9, got 3 useless associate degrees, then transferred into Berkeley Haas School of Business and got out with a 3.8.

So 3 years in community college and 2 years of fine education.

I had heard that law schools don't look at your community college GPA, so...is that real?

How does this thing work?

Thanks,

Panda

I looked at my Academic Summary Report this morning and, to my surprise, it doesn't include the academic warning note that appears on my transcript for my first quarter of undergrad, but it does have my Dean's List note for my third quarter for that year as well as all the others. Prior to seeing that LSAC didn't include my academic warning note, I was considering writing an addendum about this because that was the first and last quarter I performed poorly (and took science and math - coincidence?) and my GPA reflects this. My questions are: Should this affect my decision to write the addendum? Does LSAC look at both my transcript and the Academic Summary Report?

Thank you in advance for any thoughts and advice!

Hey 7sagers,

I apparently have lots of questions about my resume, so I'm going to keep turning to you all for advice (although I better get to actually submitting these apps real soon)!

I have a couple publications to list on my resume. Do I simply just list the titles and where they were published, or is it appropriate to add context?

For example, right now I just have:

Published non-fiction "Environmental Article Title" in Interesting Magazine - 08/16

Published short story "Best Story Ever" in Great Fiction Anthology - 07/15

Is it appropriate to sort of say what either of those were about? I'm interested in giving some context for the article since I wrote about nonprofits, community organizing, and I'm trying to do public interest law. However, from the sample resumes I've seen, it looks like everyone just writes the Title of the Publication, where it was published in, and the date of publication.

Due to taking some random classes after college, and enrolling in a data analytics program recently at a local community college, I've got a lot of schools to list under the education section of my resume. This sort of sucks, because I would rather use precious resume room on cool extracurriculars.

Right now, I have 3 schools listed - my undergrad institution, the community college I'm in currently enrolled in the data analytics program in, and a third school I took a poli sci class from last year. I was not planning to include this third school, but @david.busis suggested I included it so that it didn't appear like I was hiding anything.

I also studied abroad in undergrad, and a lot of sites suggest including that school to add some personality to your resume. However, that would result in me listing 4 schools, which both seems ridiculous and will take up way too much real estate. I'm leaning towards just omitting the study abroad school, since that won't boost my resume much, and leaving the third school (at which I took the online poli sci class) to avoid any potential harm not fully disclosing that course might cause. Does this seem like the best plan to you all?

Hey all. First time poster here!

I am scheduled to take the December LSAT, but since I registered two months ago, I've decided to shoot for a higher score/better school and take it again in June 2017. I'm currently scoring a 160, BR-ing around 168, and my new goal is 170+. I think I can do this by June, but definitely not by December.

My worry is this: if I score a 160 in December and a 170 in June, will law schools heavily consider the first score and/or average the two? I'm looking at schools like Georgetown, Michigan, Chicago, Northwestern, and I want them to see my best score. On the other hand, experiencing test-day anxiety and getting a feel for the process this December before I do the real deal in June sounds beneficial.

Any Sage advice?

I am 100% a believer in 7sage's effectiveness for LSAT prep, but now that that's out of the way, I was wondering how effective people have found the Admissions accounts. And if you did use them for your application, which level did you sign up for and how do you feel it helped you?

I've been working on my personal statement and all other application necessities on my own, but feel like it might be best to leave no stone unturned and enroll professional help. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Hey all- I have an organizational question on resumes. I got a bachelor's degree in 2004, then got an associate's degree in culinary arts in 2010, and over the last few years i've also taken some graduate level courses at two different schools for credit, though not as a degree-seeking student.

Should I list all of this education on my resume? I'm getting transcripts for everything, so it will definitely be on my law school report. And if i do list it all, in what order? I know usually you would list things in reverse chronological order, but in my case it seems strange, since that would mean the highest degree I've obtained would be listed last.

Any advice?

Thanks!

I began completing actual applications this week, and had a question regarding some common questions I've seen on apps. I've seen several optional sections/questions regarding your socio-economic background: parents' educations, household income, high school, zip code you lived in during high school, etc., with Berkeley probably having the most in-depth section.

The question is this: If the section is optional, and your responses would indicate a relatively privileged upbringing (private high school, parents with professional degrees, upper-middle class household income, etc.), is it better to just not complete the section?

Does omitting responses to this section cause the adcom to just assume both your parents are MDs, and have a household income over $1m, and you went to Philips Academy?

Should I list the year I was a Fulbright Scholar (English teaching assistant program) under employment in the LSAC applications? I wasn't employed per se, but it seems odd to leave it out, especially if I'm putting in my unpaid internships from college. (Obviously, it's on my resume--just asking about the app itself). Thanks in advance for your input!

Because you all are the best, I have more questions:

I'm trying to save space on my resume (like we all are), and want to know if this education section is redundant:

College XY

• BA in English; Minors in Creative Writing and History.

• Dean’s List (Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012).

• Graduated with Honors

• Honors Thesis: Psychological Traps and the Legacy of the Old South in Faulkner’s Fiction.

Can I just cut "Graduated with Honors" and simply list the title of my thesis? Would that convey I graduated with Honors?

Also, do I need to list the semesters for Dean's List? It seems like I should. Thanks 7sagers!

So Penn doesn't have a specific "Why do you want to go to Penn" essay prompt, but one of the optional essays is:

These are the core strengths that make Penn Law the best place to receive a rigorous and engaging legal education: genuine integration with associated disciplines; transformative, forward-looking faculty scholarship; highly-regarded experiential learning through urban clinics and our pro bono pledge; innovative, hands-on global engagement; and a manifest commitment to professional development and collegiality. These qualities define Penn Law. What defines you? How do your goals and values match Penn Law’s core strengths?

Is this just a long-winded way of asking Why Penn? Or should I really spend a good deal of the essay talking about some of my own traits?

Admins please delete if I am crossing any lines.

These are MY notes from the free webinars put on David Busis and figured that I should host them somewhere for everyone to view/use. This is just scratching the surface for the breadth of information that David provides in the admissions courses, https://classic.7sage.com/enroll-admissions/.

Admission Webinar Notes

Look at the applications for schools you want to get into now, a lot of them share similar topics.

Timeline

-Should start in June, but July is sufficient

-Focus on research and building resume first

-Develop personal statement draft by end of July

-Line up recommenders, give time to reconnect (have conversation, grab coffee, email correspondence, etc)

-Come august you should begin edit the essays, let them evolve

-By September you should be proof reading the essays for easy errors (review it 4, 5, or even 6 times)

-If applications are ready in October, then apply, if not then wait until you have all ducks in a row and papers as best as you possibly can

-If you apply by thanksgiving you're still great and early, February to march is late and should consider waiting until next year.

Before you start you want to sanitize your Social Media, adjust privacy settings, delete embarrassing/not professional photos

Open prompts truly can be about anything

Don't necessarily write about why you're going to law school, if your resume shows real commitment to social justice, have wanted to be forever, then write about it

if your T-14 schools don't really care, write about something not focused on this

Personal Statement (600 - 850 words, if overwrite that ok, it easier to overwrite and cut then underwrite and add)

(There is more on PS below in this post)

-Make them remember who you are, do not brag about what you've done as that what your resume is for

-Diversity Statement, only write if you can write a really really good one, should generally be shorter than personal statement, if it wants to be longer than personal statement than maybe use that as personal statement

-Wont make up for low LSAT scores or low GPA, but could help put your application into the "Yes" pile

-Stories stick in peoples heads more than facts, remember you as the guy who "Locked keys in car, broke into own car, got arrested for breaking into own car"

-If you have a really good reason to be a lawyer, then write about it, otherwise DONT

Diversity Statement (little bit shorter than personal statement)

-A essay about how you would make the campus more diverse, not tied to ethnicity, religion, etc

-Only write diversity statement if you can talk about how your background shaped you

-A good one wont hurt you, but a bad one WILL

Resume (not the same as a job)

-List interests and activities (these two come up in interviews)

-Shows that you're an human being, humanize yourself

-Only include highlights, show off skills or highlights talents

-Keep to one page, admissions will scan for about 30 seconds, so make it scannable with plenty of white space and easy to read formatting

-Only include highlights

-Have quantifiable accomplishments

-Keep it to one page

Letters of Recommendation (need two or three)

-Around 3 LoR is best, no more than 5

-Academics weigh much more heavily

-Those who know you well are much more helpful

-Those who can tell stories about you, help illustrate your personality

-Can give them information about yourself, might include keys for what you want to be highlighted or how you've changed recently

-Reconnect and help them remember who you are or fill them in on what you've done since last seeing them

Character and Fitness Addendum

-Assume admissions can find out anything available via google, social media, etc.

-Disciplinary action at school or ever arrested, assume that everything you don't disclose will go back to bite you

-Figure out what you should call the incident, Class B or Class C misdemeanor

-Show them what you learned and explain to them why its not going to happen again

Weakness Addendum (Extenuating circumstances)

What happened, How are you trying to fix it, What isn't it going to happen again

-Is this a legitimate problem?

-Did i try to fix this problem?

-Is this going to occur in the future?

-Don't write about a weakness you don't want them to know

-Substantiate the lower GPA in mechanical engineering department with a pass rate for EIT /

-Spin this with being military minded, straight line thinking person for the past X years of life

Why school X essay (optional but NOT OPTIONAL, 1 page or less)

-Although these are stated to be optional they are not!

-This is an INTEREST TEST, if you don't write one or write about a generic reason this shows a LACK OF INTEREST

-Must write it if you have the option, this is a interest test

-Have to do research on the school, talk with students, admissions, graduates

-Cite unique reasons, classes, clinics, professors you want to work with

-Don't make it a generalized statement ("Great professors")

-Should be one page or less

Other Essays (Idiosynchratic)

-Compliment or emphasize other parts of your admission packet

-Use this to expound on your "marketing of yourself"

-Georgetown has 5 additional essays

-Use this emphasize one part of your essay, or if you didn't write about why you want to be Lawyer then write that

Brainstorming

-What 5 seconds changed your life, boil it down to a key moment

-When did you change your mind about something

-What is the hardest thing you've ever done

Personal Statement Webinar Notes

A good personal statement topic finds a good center between What Matters to You and What is an Interesting Story (where there exists the most overlap is what you should write about)

-In additional, a good personal statement where there exists an intersection between what Matters to you and What is an Interesting Story AND doest make you look like a douche

-A really good writer can make almost anything an interesting story (I am not a good writer thought....)

-Tells your life story, or a thin slice of your life's story

Do you have an incredible story (something that could be made into a Lifetime movie?)

-If yes, then you want to use that

-If no then DON'T use that --> Brain storm, general rule is that 1 in 10 ideas are good ones

Personal statement should have an internal before and after, should be a lesson that reflects a small journey you made

Questions to ask yourself to find a good topic

1) When did you change your mind, your beliefs, or your goals? Anywhere in your life where you took a new direction, a big inflection point. Maybe it is smaller than significant change, such as a psychodrama.

2) What is the most challenging thing that you've done? What is your mountain? This might be a really good topic because it presents movement 1- the challenge and movement 2- the solution

3) What contributed to your identity? What shaped you or what made you, you? Might be about how you grew up, such as had to raise your siblings. Maybe you were a parking lot attendant and had a bunch of time to focus on something, like reading.

4) What is most surprising about you? It forces you to dig deep about something that will be memorable. Maybe its a hobby, a skill that most people don't have, or an interest most people don't have.

5) (Most powerful statement) What 5 seconds changed your life? Doesn't necessarily have to be actually 5 seconds. Might be easiest to write because you have an identifiable changing point and have a before and after.

6) What made you want to be a lawyer? This is a good topic for anyone who has a good and sincere interest in becoming a lawyer, not a boring reason such as a stable or respected profession. Don't pretend you want to be a lawyer for some abstract reason because your resume will flush out that your interest isn't actually sincere. If you have some use for your UG degree.

Topics can meld together, such as a 5 second change that drove you to want to be a lawyer.

Dudes favorite essays:

1) Tourettes essay - about a time someone who has tourettes his whole life, seemed ordinary from his POV, but from someone else POV its pretty interesting

2) Defending a Neo-Nazi - a African American who ends up defending a Nazi in court

3) Coffee Shop - A 5 second change in this girls life, who normally didn't stand up for herself, but was a pivotal movement for her

4) Paper Cranes - Korean student who moved to Japan who had an inherent distrust for Japanese culture, while making paper cranes in a park

5) Max's Death - An VETs story about an Iraqi Soldier who died while trying to get his Green Card, focus's more on his relationship between the two NOT ABOUT MAX

6) Tourne - Someone who could make a type of food, tourne, and his struggle

7) Women like you - About a woman who was harassed in a police station in South Korea, turns that moment about being harassed into what are her core beliefs

The best personal statements touch on the MOST IMPORTANT THING IN YOUR LIFE

Things to ask:

1) Do you play an active part in this story? If you're not active then the topic probably doesn't work

2) Can you illustrate the point with specific anecdotes and details? These are the "bricks" that build your essay. If you can't remember specific details about the event, it might be a shitty essay because it will be vague

3) Is the topic important to you? Can you write about it sincerely?

4) Is it "the time that"?

Things to NOT DO:

1) Don't say what you're not sincere about because you think its what they want to hear, the admissions will flush out your bullship

Bad Essays Example Topics:

1) The time I witnessed injustice essay, unless you were wronged or people you were connected to were wronged, then this is not going to seem sincere. Did you try to, or actually, do something about it? Did you actively act on that cause?

2) The Blah Business School Essay

-Did this experience working at the internship, or working at your job, matter to you? Did it change you? If not then it will feel like blah.

-Is your accomplishment something special, or was it just doing your job? Sometimes just doing your job can have a sense of nobility.

3) The essay about the obstacle that's not really an obstacle.

-Disappointments are not real obstacles

-Is this an actual obstacle or is this a disappointment?

4) The Two-Headed Essay

-Writer doesn't really know what he wants to write about and morphs into something weird

-Do I have more than one topic?

-Is every paragraph part of the same story?

5) The Headless Essay

-People writing about their resume or writing about

-Can you explain what this essay is about in one sentence or less? If you can't then you probably don't have a good essay

Notes from Admissions webinar on Personal Statement:

Personal Statement (600 - 850 words, easier to overwrite and cut)

-Make them remember who you are, do not brag about what you've done as that what your resume is for

-Diversity Statement only if you can write a really really good one, should generally be shorter than personal statement, if it wants to be longer than personal statement than maybe use that as personal statement

-Wont make up for low LSAT scores or low GPA, but could help put your application into the "Yes" pile

-Stories stick in peoples heads more than facts, remember you as the guy who "Locked keys in car, broke into own car, got arrested for breaking into own car"

-If you have a really good reason to be a lawyer, then write about it, otherwise DONT

Useful resource for examples of PS that worked

University of Chichago School of Law Admissions Letters: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/alumni/magazine/spring11/intheirownwords

http://www.law.uchicago.edu/node/1451

Anyone interested in being PS brainstorm buddies? I am stumbling around trying to figure out how to sum things up and could use a stranger's eyes. You tell me your life story, I'll tell you mine, we can help each other figure out interesting takes. Skye, google chat, texting, phone, who knows.

I'd prefer other older students (people whose statements are not going to be about their undergrad experience and/or who need to cover "why a career change to law"), but I'm open.

I plan on going into public interest law and so the personal statement discusses my drive for social justice. I've written it and had a couple of people look at it, but now need to fine tune it.

I'm looking for some clarification on when/when not to write an addendum for a less than stellar GPA. When is it necessary and/or helpful to write one?

I graduated with a 3.3 GPA and also have a few Ws on my transcript, but I can't figure out whether an addendum is used for a situation like mine or if it's intended for students with much lower GPAs or who have failed classes. I'm pretty confident in my LSAT score, I have a resume that's relevant to the field of law I'm interested in, and I know my LORs will be great. Should I write one for my GPA anyway? My target is a middle tier school.

Hopefully this all makes sense, I'm flying solo in terms of figuring out law school applications so I don't want to mess anything up!

Quick question: If I attended a community college over one summer in undergrad and took 2 classes that are reflected on my main school's transcript, is it necessary for me to request a transcript from the community college as well?

So my top choice for law school is UBC, and I have a GPA on par with their requirements (83%). But my LSAT score is a 10 points below what they say they have as their 'average' for the previous year. Should I even apply? Or simply wait and plan to re-write? Do I have a chance?

Hi everyone,

Sort of a long question. TL;DR: How strongly can I lean on my good graduate GPA vs my weaker undergraduate GPA when looking at places to apply?

For the sake of argument let's assume that my LSAT score is at, or slightly above a given school's median... Now for the background.

My undergraduate GPA (converting it from UK grades using an online tool) is a disappointing 3.64. However my graduate GPA (also converted with the same tool) for my recently completed Master's Degree is 3.95, which will go up to 3.98 if my thesis comes back at my expected grade come November. I got my 2 degrees at 2 different universities, but both are members of the Russell Group (sort of the UK equivalent to the Ivy League, except maybe less prestigious). Basically it's not the case that I simply got the better grades somewhere less rigorous, I just developed a lot between degrees. For what it's worth I also did a full credit undergraduate class at Harvard one year during my undergrad as part of their summer school program, for which I got an A.

This 3.64 UGPA is at or below the 25th percentile for most T14 schools. However, that's is in the past and my most recent GPA from graduate school would put me in almost any school's 75th percentile. I'm almost certain my undergraduate GPA will hold me back somewhat, but I'm wondering if I should I let it entirely put me off applying to places where it's below the median, given that my graduate GPA is so much better? In other words, is it unreasonable of me to think that my graduate GPA can make up for a slightly weak undergraduate GPA?

Thanks!

Lets be brief: 147 LSAT, 3.92 GPA, Dual Major of Computer Science and Legal Studies, and a very impressive resume. Whats the best school I could get into?